Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced this morning that he will not run for re-election, capping a historic 12-months in which the United States Congress abdicated its responsibility as an independent branch of government and doled out billions in tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of 90 percent of Americans.

Speaker Paul Ryan’s southeast Wisconsin district voted for Trump by an 11% margin, but chose President Obama in 2008, so it’s considered a swing district. Democratic candidate Randy Bryce aka Ironstache is leading the pack with a massive fundraising advantage, strong progressive platform, and growing momentum heading toward November.

It is exceedingly rare for a Speaker of the House to lose an election, and the prospects of being the first since 1994 to do so seems to be just one of the factors forcing Ryan to step aside.

His blind complicity with President Trump’s most egregious acts has turned his leadership role in the House into an “endlessly frustrating” job.

Additionally, with Democrats winning Special Elections and 2017 races at a nearly unprecedented pace, Ryan had to face the facts that even if he were able to eke out a victory this November, he’d likely return to Washington not as Speaker but as the disgraced leader of the minority party.

In a less subtle nod to the incoming tide of progressive leaders, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has panicked publicly and announced that the Republican party is sinking under this year’s Blue Wave.

Tonight’s results show we are at risk of a #BlueWave in WI. The Far Left is driven by anger & hatred — we must counter it with optimism & organization. Let’s share our positive story with voters & win in November.

Ryan’s decision caps a year where he went on a tax cut (for the wealthy) and spending spree, ballooning the federal deficit, delivering big bucks for his billionaire backers, and taking health coverage away from millions of American families.

Representative KevinMcCarthy (R-CA) and white nationalist Lousiana Rep. Steve Scalise are considered to be the top two candidates to replace Ryan as Republican Leader next year.

Speaker Ryan just became the most prominent political casualty of a rising blue wave of Democratic election victories as a national backlash builds to the fascist, often racist platform and policies promoted by the Republican Party.